Every man carries the seed of his own death, and you will not be more than a man. You will have everything; you cannot have more.

Sometimes, I think, our impulses come not from the past, but from the future.

But I have noticed this about ambitious men, or men in power, that they fear even the slightest and least likely threat to it.

The essence of wisdom is to know when to be doing, and when it's useless even to try

I had always been content to know that there was more in the living world than we could hope to understand.

I knew that I had turned my world back to cinders, sunk my lovely ship with my own stupid, wicked hands.

There are such people, unfortunates who have to be angry before they can feel alive. I had sometimes wondered if it were some old relic of pagan superstition, the fear of risking the jealousy and anger of the gods, that made such people afraid of even small happinesses. Or perhaps it was only that tragedy is more self-important than laughter.